Whether they are a mobile phone application or a company, startups are always interesting to follow. Some crash and burn, but others make it big and go on to become extremely successful. As many services and business now focus on, or deal with technology, it seems like theres a new startup looking to change the world popping up every week. With outlets like Kickstarter, new companies can actually get a foot hold into their respective industries and reach many people at levels like never before. So what are some interesting startups that are out there that we should pay attention to? Here’s a list of ten startups to keep and eye on in 2015.
10. Blurb
Blurb is a startup that hopes to change the relationship between writers and publishers by giving authors and writers more control over their content, and more profit. Blurb helps authors make decisions about things like how many books to be printed, the type of paper, and they’ll even help to distribute you’re work. The company then makes money when a book is sold, and so far they have been profitable.
9. Baro
Baro is a company that describes themselves as a “multi-platform, mobile-optimized web app that allows small businesses to rent high-tech items”. Essentially they allow entrepreneurs and small businesses to rent expensive technology items like GoPro cameras or 3D printers. They’re basically a startup helping other startups and young companies.
8. Yik Yak
Yik Yak is an anonymous messaging app that lets users interact with other people from a similar area. This may seem silly or strange, but the applications has been a smash hit. So far they’ve raise over $72 million dollars from investors and are looking to continuing on expanding their application to new markets.
7. 8tracks
While 8tracks has been around for a little bit, they have recently seen a lot of progress and have received pretty high levels of financial backing. Essentially 8tracks is a music and social media site where users build playlists that relate to genres, moods, seasons, the weather, and pretty much anything else you could think of. They help people discover new artists and share playlists and they are very popular among college students.
6. Cartonomy
Cartonomy has raised a few million dollars and plans to launch very soon. Essentially they are a business solution that helps multiple individuals bundle online purchases together. By doing this companies can cut costs on items by ordering in bulk and also save money on shipping costs. They’ve got a catalog with over 11 million products and have partnered with companies like Walmart, Best Buy, Target, Sears, Office Depot, and many others.
5. Slack
Slack is a enterprise solution in the form of a messaging app that is targeted at businesses and corporations. The guys behind Slack felt that email was getting outdated, so they wanted to offer an easier solution. They’ve received $120 million dollars in backing in just October and they’ve been valued at $1.12 billion dollars after the most recent round of funding.
4. Pecabu
Pecabu is a startup that aims to change outdoor marketing. For marketing teams, there’s no real accurate way to measure how many people a billboard reached, for example. Pecabu aims to change that with digital billboards and signs that can actually register when people are looking at the advertisement. They then take that data and combine it with demographics and information about the targeted area to give advertisers an in-depth look at who exactly they are reaching with their outdoor marketing efforts.
3. Nuzzel
Nuzzel is a social media and information aggregator that helps users to stay current with news articles and information their friends are talking about. If you are highly active on multiple social media sites, this is really beneficial. Essentially the application sees what articles have been shared the most by people you follow, and then delivers them to you in a concise and easy manner ensuring that you never miss out on something.
2. Advyzr
Advyzr is an application and company that wants to help college students by providing them with similar needs to academic advisors. At any school, especially the large ones, academic advisors are outnumbered by students and have to work with so many that it is difficult for students to get help when they need it. Advyzr is an app that helps users build schedules, offer suggestions, and to just generally help out students.
1. Spring
Spring is a mobile commerce/ social media site that lets consumers follow their favorite brands and then purchase products easily from them. It also provides younger businesses and companies with an easy means to reach their target consumers. What Spring does is connect users to a businesses existing e-commerce infrastructure allowing both parties to get what they want.
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